Saw-shifter for gang-edgers.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Aug. 23, 1 910.

H I I I I I H I I] l I I I I II III 'I HI I l M i H I HIM. i l H lilu. F H NH n. i-

J. T. STODDARD.

SAW SHIFTER FOR GANG EDGERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1909.

14/ or'ny.

Tu: nonms PETER; no wasnmaron. n. c.-

J. T. STODDARD. SAW SHIFTER FOR GANG EDGERS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED NOV. 24, 1909.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

3 8HEETB-SKEET 2 lV/Yn e55 es.

rug: NORRIS I'ETIR: co. Iusnmamu. n. t.

J. T. STODDARD.

SAW SHIFTBR FOR GANG EDGERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1909.

3 SHEETS-8HBET 3.

@M WM Mom! tn: NORRIS Ftrzns cm, vusmNnrou, n. c

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

JAMES '1. STODDARD, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

SAW-SHIFTER FOR GANG-EDGERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 24, 1909.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

Serial No. 529,756.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JAMES T. STODDARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Saw Shifters for Gang-Edgers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the class of gangedgers used in saw-mills to cut saw-logs into boards of various widths and thicknesses.

The object of my invention is to provide a device in which each saw shifter moves its own gage and is automatically locked in and released from position by means of power clutching mechanism. I attain these objects as well as other advantages, by the construction, combination and arrangement of parts .illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

which form a part hereof.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a gangedger showing my device therein. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of said edger. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the machine on the line EE of Fig. 1 with portions of the shifter broken away to illustrate the mechanism within.

Like numerals and letters refer to like parts throughout the views.

A is the standard frame of the edger.

B is the saw arbor suitably mounted in the frame and carrying a battery of saw's, keyed on the arbor in the ordinary way.

C and D are feed rollers mounted in the frame A in suitable position.

In the front part of the frame A are transverse shifter rods, the ends of which pass through openings in the respective sides 66 of the frame in sliding engagement therewith. Saw-shifting bars 7 are rigidly secured in suitable position upon the shifting rods 5 at right angles thereto. The

shifting bars 7 are provided with yokes 8 in the usual manner of like machines and these extend far enough longitudinally of the machine to engage the sides of the saws 4. The shifters are provided with integral handles 9. A scale plate 10 is rigidly secured to the sides 66 in front of the edger and transversely thereto. This scale plate is inclined at a suitable angle toward the rear of the edger. It need only be graduated for a suitable distance from its left end. Beginning with the shifter bar to the left and in order toward the right the shifter bars are respectively provided with scale plates 11, 12, 13 and 14 inclined at the same angle as the rigid plate 10 and rigidly secured at the left end of each to its respective shifter. near the handle thereof. These scale plates are movable with the shifters and are held in alinement on their free ends by engagement with a pointer hook 15 extending over them, or they may be otherwise guided by sliding in a groove or an opening in the side 6 of the frame A. Each scale plate just clears the upper surface of the scale plate of the shifter next to the left of the one to which it is secured, the one on the extreme left clearing the rigid scale plate 10 in the same manner.

The shifter bar scale plates are arranged, the first to move laterally in front of the face of the rigid plate 10 and each succeeding movable scale plate to move laterally in front of the face of the scale plate of the next shifter bar to the left. The scale plates are so arranged and graduated with relation to the longitudinal direction of the saws and shifters that the necessary allowance for saW-kerf is predetermined when the shifters are moved laterally to set the saws to cut material. When so moved and locked with the power clutch herein described, the saws are placed and firmly held accurately in position to saw material of the desired dimension, as it is read upon the scale plat-es. A hook pointer 15 is rigidly secured at the right end of the scale plate 10 andextended over it and downward in engagement with the face of the outer scale plate 14. By means of this the distance between the nearest saw and the pointer may be read to ascertain the amount of material within that space.

In the front part of the edger and immediately over the shifters toward the rear end thereof a rigid bar 16 extends transversely of the edger, being secured at its ends to the respective sides 6 6 of the frame. The bar 16 engages a semi-circular groove 17 Fig. 3, immediately over it in the frame A, which groove may if desired be faced with Babbitt metal or other suitable material. On the lower side of each shifter a clutch lever 18 is pivoted on its rear end to theshifter by a pin 19. The levers 18 the lever 18 is secured upon a vertical piston rod 23. An expansion coil spring 24 mounted upon the upper end of the piston rod 23 valve port 29 there-for.

.ward end anda transverse and holding it thus, the fluid power engages the lower'surface of the top of the cylinder and also the upper surface of the rear end of the lever 18'. The lower end of the cylinder 22 has an opening 25 which is the means of receiving and transmitting power fluid from a power generating source into the cylinder, below a piston 26 and through a valve port 27. The power fluid may be transmitted through a hose pipe connected with the lower end of the duct 25. The piston 26 is secured to the lower end of; the piston rod 23. The cylinder is also provided with an exhaust port 28 and a A valve 30 is. arranged transversely of the cylinder. It extends through the lower end of the cylinder and commands the ports 25 and 28. Its rear end is pivoted to the lower end of a bell crank latch lever 31 which is pivoted at its angle on a pivot 32 in the lower side of the shifter handle. An expansion coil spring 33 is mounted on the rear end of the valve stem, engaging the cylinder with its forpin 34 in the valve stem with its other end.

It will now be seen that while the valve 27 is open as in Fig. 3 the power fluid forces the piston 26 upward and it in turn causes theend of the lever 18 to rise and the lever to engage the rod 16 and force it against the groove 17, the friction pressure on which retains the shifter in a fixed position with relation to the sides of the edger frame. Upon grasping the lever latch 31, raising it ressure is released in the cylinder througl f the port 28 and the spring 24 depresses-the lever 18, releasing its friction clutch on the rod 16. The shifter may then be slid laterally between the sides of the frame and the saw moved by it to any position desired, as predetermined by the gages on the scale plates. When in position, by releasing the lever latch 31 the valve 30 is moved forward by the spring 33 and the power fluid again admitted to. the cylinder, causing the piston to rise and bring the lever 18 again into friction clutch with the rod 16 as shown in Fig.

The shifter at the extreme left is first set by the graduated scale plate 10, the next one is. set by the scale plate 11 on this shifter and each succeeding one in the same manner.

I By means of the pointer 15 at the right, the

distance between it and the nearest saw may be read and the width of the material remaining on the right can be calculated, for the purpose of moving the saw to cut the same as may be desired. The shifter scale plates. being thus graduated and arranged,

full allowance is made for the loss of board measurement caused by the saw-kerf and this enables the operator to set the saws for 'any full measurement of boards as indicated the bar 16 when the contact surfaces be- (301116 WOI'H.

The arrangement of scale plates on the shifters and the pointer 15 are improvements upon the device shown in my former Patent No. 879,923 dated February 25, 1908, but are included inmy Canadian Patent No. 117,308, dated March 16, 1909. The friction clutch now shown is an improvement upon the edger shown in both of said patents. It

is also to be noted that my device might be arranged in a reverse manner, that is to say, the spring 24 may be placed below the lever 18 to retain it in friction clutch on the rod 16, and the cylinder be above the lever so that power would be applied to release the clutch instead of to retain it as: illustrated. Such anarrangement I contend to be an equivalent-of the one herein described. It may also be noted that the scale plates might be arranged reversely on the shifters and such arrangement I likewise contend to be an: equivalent of that illustrated.

Having thus particularly described my invention as aforesaid I claim:

1. A gang-edger saw-shifter provided with clutching or locking mechanism comprising a cylinder 22 secured tothe shifter, a piston 23 therein, a cylinder port 25' to: receive and transmit pressure power fluid from a convenient power source, a cylinder exhaust port 28, a cylinder valve 30 commanding the ports, means to open and close the valve, means to retain the piston: at the end of its inward stroke, a clutch lever 18 secured at one end to the piston rod 23, its

opposite end pivoted upon the shifter, the

to the shifter, a piston 23 therein, a cylinder port 25 to receive and transmit pressure power fluid from a convenient power source, a cylinder exhaust port 28, a cylinder valve 30 commanding the ports, means to open and close the valve, means to retain the piston at the end of its inward stroke, a clutch lever 18 secured at one end to the piston rod 23, its opposite end pivoted upon the shifter, the lever being formed with a suitable contact surface to engage the oppositely 10 disposed friction bar 16, substantially as described.

JAMES T. STODDARD. Witnesses:

M. C. WRIGHT, JEAN CLINE. 

